Cushion construction



Jan. 18, 1944.

w. L. CLARK CUSHION CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 25

Patented Jan. 18, 1944 CUSHION CONSTRUCTION William L. Clark, Oak Park, Ill., assignor to lllinois Felt Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 25, 1943, Serial No. 473,460, 7

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to a cushion construction.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple form of cushion in which no springs are used or necessary, but which will nevertheless maintain its original form, even after long and repeated use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cushion containing a filler made up essentially of a bat of fibrous material, for instance, cotton batting, which is loosely stitched to a fabric base such for example as deim or muslin, and which is then folded upon itself to produce the primary member of a cushion filling assembly, all as hereinafter more completely described. 7

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the further description, the drawing and the claims.

The invention is illustrated in a single sheet of drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a completed cushion;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the primary member before it has been folded upon itself;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the primary filling member afterit hasbeen folded upon itself;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a filling member containing a secondary portion consisting of a wrapper of fibrous material;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the filling member of Fig. 4 as it is inserted into the cushion envelope, and

Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

In order to provide a cushion which does not have a tendency to mat down or to become lumpy in use, applicant has devised a construction in which stitching is employed to afiix a fibrous bat to a fabric base which is then folded upon itself and, either with or without a further wrapping of fibrous material, is inserted into an envelope made of some suitable material such as a fabric, leather, or the like, to eventuate a completed cushion such as is illustrated in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 2, the cushion filling may be made by taking afibrous bat such as for example a mass of cotton batting l0, and stitching the same by means of stitches II to a fabric base I2, which for example may be some form of denim or muslin.

Preferentially, and as shown in the figures, these stitchings run longitudinally of the major dimension of the primary filling member shown in Fig. 2, the stitching being rather long as can best be seen from Fig. 6. These longitudinal lines ill of stitching therefore provide longitudinal grooves as illustrated in Fig. 2.

In forming the primary cushion member, this is accomplished by taking a member of suitable size, for example, as that in Fig. 2, and folding it once upon itself, as shown inFig. 3, so that the ends 13' and I3 are in substantial alignment along a vertical plane as shown in Fig. 3. This therefore forms a rounded boundary I4 which is bounded by the covering l2. By virtue of the stitching and th contact of the fibrous bat surface against itself, lateral displacement of the fibrous filling is substantially avoided when such a filler is placed in an envelope for example as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, where the envelope material is broadly designated by the reference numeral l5. Furthermore, the rounded end M is more easily inserted into the envelope, and forms a smoothercushion end.

In order further to improve the construction, it is possible as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, additionally to wrap the assembly or primary member shown in Fig. .3, with a further wrapping of fibrous material it, which preferably is wrapped around the primary member in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal stitchings l i. This wrapping may be of a felted material having suificient coherence for the purpose. This also prevents the lines of stitching from eventually showing on the outside of the cushion, as it bridges over the slight depressions where the stitching has somewhat compacted the fibrous bat. I

The filling member, either in the form as shown in Fig. 3 without a wrapping, or with the additional wrapping l6 shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is then, as shown in Fig. 5, inserted into the envelope l5 by suitable machinery or by hand in the manner now well known in the upholstery art, whereafter the covering is stitched to eventuate the finished cushion shown in Fig. l. Preferably, it is inserted with the rounded end 14 first entering the envelope.

It has been demonstrated by a large number of tests that a cushion constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention may be used for a long period without sagging, lumping, or settling, and that, by virtue of the resilience of the fibrous material, will return eventually into its original shape, after having been compressed, as by a person sitting thereon. The stitching is primarily responsible for this result, because it is impossible for the fibrous material, to shift to any great extent, and there-' fore it will not sag down or become lumpy.

It is of course to be understood that any type of fibrous material maybe used, whether it is of vegetable or animal origin, or whether it be natural or synthetic. Thus the batting may be made of wool, horse hair, sisal, hemp, artificial silk, or ordinary cotton. The latter form is the preferred form, primarily because of the relative cheapness of cotton.

Saving for himself such modifications as will occur to those familiar with the upholstery art, applicant claims:

1. A filling for cushions comprising a layer of fibrous material loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the fibrous layer is in contact with itself and the fabric forms the outer surface of the filling.

2. A filling for cushions comprising a layer of cotton batting loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the cotton batting layer is in contact with itself and the fabric forms the outer surface of the filling.

3. A filling for cushions consisting, as one member, of a layer of fibrous material loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the fabric forms the outside of said member, and a second member consisting of a layer of fibrous material wrapped about said first member.

4. A filling for cushions consisting, as one member, of a layer of cotton batting loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the fabric forms the outside of said member, and a second member consisting of a layer of fibrous material wrapped about said first member.

5. A cushion comprising a fabric envelope containing a. filling comprising as one member a layer of fibrous material stitched to a fabric base and folded back upon itself in such a manher that the fabric blase forms the outside of said member, and a second member consisting of a layer of fibrous material wrapped about said first member.

6. A filling for cushions comprising a fabric base, a layer of fibrous batting, longitudinally extending lines of loose stitching afiixing said batting to said base, the resulting assembly being folded back upon itself, along a fold extending athwart said lines of stitching, to a sufficient extent to bring the extreme ends thereof into substantial alignment, and a wrapping of fibrous batting around the folded assembly.

7. A filling for cushions comprising a layer of fibrous batting stitched to a fabric base by longitudinally extending lines of stitching, said layer being folded back upon itself with the fabric base on the outside; and a layer of fibrous batting wrapped around the folded layer.

8. A filling for cushions comprising a layer of cotton batting stitched to a fabric base by longitudinally extending lines of stitching, said layer being folded back upon itself with the fabric base on the outside; and a layer of cotton batting wrapped around the folded layer.

9. Method of constructing a cushion which comprises stitching a layer of fibrous batting to a fabric base to form an assembly, and folding said assembly back upon itself, with the fabric on the outside, until the free ends of the assembly are in substantial alignment in a plane, and placing the folded assembly in a fabric envelope.

10. Method of constructing a cushion which comprises stitching a layer of fibrous batting to a fabric base to form an assembly, and folding said assembly back upon itself, with the fabric on the outside, until the free ends of the assembly are in substantial alignment in a plane, wrapping the folded assembly with a surrounding layer of fibrous material, and placing the wrapped assembly in a fabric envelope.

11. A cushion comprising a fabric envelope containing a filling comprising a layer of fibrous material loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the fibrous layer is in contact with itself and the fabric forms the outer surface of the filling.

12. A cushion comprising a fabric envelope containing a filling comprising a layer of cotton batting loosely stitched to a fabric base and folded over upon itself so that the cotton batting layer is in contact with itself and the fabric forms the outer surface of the filling.

WILLIAM L. CLARK. 

